Formulation of the Claim
The currents of the Nahda and the revolution did not enter into a serious religious critique, nor did they articulate a new Islamic theology.
Explanation
Arkoun holds that the impact of these two currents remained limited in the religious sphere, because they did not inaugurate a deep reassessment of the theological structure itself. Thus the major religious questions continued to revolve within the framework of inherited tradition, without a new epistemic formulation suited to the transformations of the age.
This means that, for Arkoun, the demand for renewal is not limited to social or political reform; it is also connected to reconsidering the tools and horizons of religious understanding. The absence of a new theology indicates, in his view, that historical transformation was not translated into an intellectual rupture within religious discourse.
Its Place in the Book’s Argument
This atom falls within Arkoun’s critique of the trajectories of Arab and Islamic reform when they stop at the level of general slogans and do not reach the level of a critical reassessment of religious knowledge. It converges with his broader thesis in the book concerning the need for new thinking about the Qur’an and about the history of the formation of Islamic discourse, rather than merely reviving old formulas under modern names.
Limits of the Claim
This statement should not be burdened with a final judgment on everything achieved by the Nahda and the revolution, nor should it be read as a denial of any cultural or political effect they had. What is meant is their limits in producing a critical religious discourse and a new Islamic theology.
Brief Evidence
Arkoun holds that the currents of the Nahda and the revolution did not enter into a serious religious critique, nor did they articulate a new Islamic theology. Their impact therefore remained limited in the religious sphere, because they did not inaugurate a deep reassessment of the theological structure itself. The major questions continued to revolve within the framework of inherited tradition, without a new epistemic formulation.
Related Links
- Readings in the Qur’an
- Arkoun